Meeting
by Philosophizes
Summary: Everyone seems to write about what happened after the last episode, but what happened in betweeen? You just know people had issues after all that.


"Settle down, all of you!" Cosmic Boy ordered. "The topic is what to do about Brainiac 5. This meeting is now in session."

There was an immediate clamor as everyone tried to be heard at once. It didn't help any that everyone had been forced into this room with only a few hours sleep and recover after returning from space. Tensions between people too tired and shaken to argue then were now running high.

"QUIET!" he roared. "One at a time!"

Squabbling broke out over who would talk first, making the noise level rise even more.

Cos pounded on the table to get everyone's attention. "In order of seniority!" He glared around the table before continuing. "I don't think we should keep him." He held up his hand to stop the impending outburst of protests. "I agree, he does need help. But it shouldn't be done here. He needs to leave. Garth, your turn."

"I can't believe you just said that. We should be supporting him, you jerk. I say he stays. Imra, go."

"We can't make him leave. Tinya."

"He stays. Tri- Du- oh, Luornu."

"He stays."

"Even after he made you lose a body?" Evidently Nemesis Kid had decided to antagonize the team again.

"I don't recall giving you permission to speak, Hart." Cos said testily.

"You can hardly blame him for not knowing of a danger from an entirely different time." Duo Damsel pointed out.

"Oh, so you're saying he didn't know about the danger from Brainiac 1?" Hart shot back.

"Of course he knew, you prick!" Cham had stood up and was leaning on the table threateningly. "How could he not-"

"Order! We will stick to the procedure!" Cosmic Boy interrupted. "Sun Boy!"

"I can't stand two-faced liars. They just get you killed." He returned a venomous glare from Shrinking Violet. "I want him out. Bouncing Boy."

"We owe him too much to kick him out, even if he wasn't the good person I know he is. Tyroc."

"As far as I can tell, Brainiac exploited him. I hate it when people get exploited. We shouldn't kick him out, but I still don't feel comfortable with him staying. Blok, shoot."

"Shoot? You must explain that later. I too know how people can be manipulated. I know Brainiac 5 as an upright person. He needs… support. We should not cut him off. Dream Girl, it is your turn."

Everyone received a cool look from her before speaking. "He stays. No one can always know the outcome of their actions; and once you do know, most times you can't stop it." She looked down for a moment, seeming a bit guilty. "We should have noticed how everything was spinning out of control with him; and we should have tried to help long before any of this happened. He stays as long as he wants. Jan?"

"You all know that I have problems with lone madmen… but Brainiac 5 is as blameless as Laurel Gand was in the destruction of my planet."

"So, uh, Jan; what are you trying to say here?" Cham asked. "I thought Laurel _gave_ Roxxas Brainy's anti-lead serum so he could destroy Trom."

"Laurel was used by her people and her family just as Brainiac 5 was used by his ancestor. I forgave Laurel; I cannot blame Brainiac 5. Shrinking Violet, it's your turn."

"Brainy stays." Her icy tone dared anyone to disagree with her. "He is a good person; and there is nothing anyone can say that will change my mind. Next."

No one spoke. Cos and Garth looked at each other. Saturn Girl had her head in her hands. "Shadow Lass and Invisible Kid are still en route here… and Laurel's not on the team anymore… Wildfire; what do you think?"

"The guy had secrets, so what? We can't use that to judge him."

"So your stance is…?" Imra prompted.

"I have no idea."

"Still trying to be the loner, Drake?" Timber Wolf asked sarcastically. "There's only so much you can pull off."

"Look who's talking, _puppy_," he shot back. "You think this is about my ego?"

"When isn't it, with you?" Ultra Boy said from across the table.

"You looking to fight?" Wildfire challenged. "Bring it."

"No fighting, any of you!" Cosmic Boy ordered. "Princess Projectora."

"I know only that Brainiac 5 deserves respect for everything he has done for the galaxy. I don't know him personally at all; though from what I have heard he is quite a respectable person."

"Respectable?" Nemesis Kid snorted.

"Silence, _peasant_," she commanded. "This sort of behavior should not be occurring. Nothing but insubordination has resulted from this- this ruckus."

"Ruckus?" Lightning Lad exclaimed. "You mean crisis! If it was a ruckus I wouldn't be out at all hours playing politics with people who can't see past their noses."

"Again, the _point_?" Cos sighed.

"Let him do as he pleases with regards to this matter. Dawnstar?"

"He's… lost," she said.

"Of course he lost his way. That's why you've got to get rid of him," Kell spoke up suddenly.

"Shut up, Kell. No one asked you." Tinya retorted.

"I thought you changed your mind about that." Superman said, greatly confused. "You were really supportive just a little while ago."

"Sudden mood swings. I blame you and your idealistic little mind."

"_Maria; please continue._" Cos raised his voice again. "No more interruptions, any of you!"

"That's not what I meant, Kell. It's more like he was picked up off his path and dumped onto the middle of an entirely new path with no trail markers or map or landmarks to orient himself with. He has no idea what he should be doing. He needs to find his way on this new path; but he must do it his way, on his own time. If he feels he will find it here, we must let him stay. If he feels he will find it elsewhere, we must let him go. Colossal Boy, speak."

"I'm not a _dog_, Dawny," he grumbled. "I was in the Science Police before the Legion, and I was in it for the same reason: to help others and protect them from danger. That's what the Legion is about, and we can't do that when we've got a traitor on the team. Brainiac 5 needs to get out."

Saturn Girl thought for another minute. "Clark, it's your turn."

"I-I don't know," he sighed, frustrated. "I want to say that it's not his fault; I was there and I know he didn't mean to hurt anyone… but I keep having this feeling that if it was anyone else, I'd be saying something different. It's just really complicated."

"It always is." Element Lad told him. "The universe holds no easy answers."

Superman smiled tiredly at him. "Try telling that to the rest of the planet my time. They keep expecting me to have the right answer, right now, all the time. But half the time I'm not even sure there is a completely right answer."

Now he smiled at the rest of them. "It's great to be somewhere where everyone isn't always expecting me to solve every single one of their problems."

"You'll get through it, Clarky." Bouncing Boy said encouragingly. "Hey, Timber Wolf, you're next."

"If you throw him out, you have to throw me out." Brin told everyone. "If the Legion's rules say 'no nutcases allowed', then I should never have gotten in. Since I've lost it at least two times already, there's no way you can kick Brainy out for a one-time thing without being a bunch of self-serving hypocrites."

"Seconded," Violet called from down the table.

"Thirded," Matter-Eater Lad piped up. "There is no logical way to kick him out without getting rid of T-Wolf too. Runs counter to everything I learned in law school."

"That all makes sense." Star Boy said slowly. "And that's besides talking about Brainy's character."

"I haven't got much of an opinion either way," said Ultra Boy. "But I'd rather he not leave. You don't find too many decent smartypants willing to run around kicking people's butts."

Everyone stared at him.

"What, I like the guy. It's hard not to," Jo shrugged.

Star Boy looked around. "Um… Chemical King, it's your turn."

"I think we should keep him," he said quietly.

"You're just saying that because your boyfriend is his best friend." Nemesis Kid shot out another snide comment.

"Hart. SHUT. UP. No one wants to listen to you." Garth groaned.

"Do you make a hobby of trying to make people's lives miserable?" Karate Kid asked.

"Depends on the person," Hart told him.

"Cham, let's hear it," Luornu said.

"Do you really have to ask? He stays."

"You should all-"

"We all know what you think, Kell. We've been listening to you making nasty comments about Brainy since you got here," Imra interrupted. "You don't need to say anything either, Nemesis Kid. Val, it's your turn."

"So I don't even get to say _why_ I think what I do?" Nemesis Kid asked, offended.

"Make it quick, then." She dreaded the response.

"There's too many perfectly pleasant people I've known who've tried to trip me up somehow. I've had people sack my rooms, put chemicals in my food, and just generally trip me up." The look on his face suggested he'd tasted something horrible. "There was even one person who tried to take backstabbing out of the metaphorical meaning and into the literal. This whole thing reminds me way too much of that."

There was a stunned silence as everyone tried to think of where Hart was from.

"What can I say," Nemesis Kid shrugged. "Alchemy is a cutthroat business. It's just as well I couldn't get anywhere near any of that stuff without it suddenly failing."

Karate Kid cleared his throat nervously before speaking. "I believe that it is our duty as Legionnaires to give assistance wherever needed. There should not be any '_buts'_ about it."

Cosmic Boy counted in his head for a moment. "That makes… 5 definite no's, 7 definite yes's, 2 undecided's, and the rest ambiguous and/or indecisive with a definite leaning toward yes." He looked around the room with an expression of dread. "That's not enough to reach a quantitative decision. We're going to have to make this a debate instead of an open-ended vote."

"He's traumatized!" Saturn Girl pounded her fist on the table for emphasis. "We have to keep him here."

"We can't afford to keep him here!" Cosmic Boy retorted. "Team unity just keeps breaking down the longer he's here."

"So you don't want him here?" Cham accused.

"No, I want him;" came the frustrated reply. "But we just can't!"

"Shouldn't, you really mean." Kell said nonchalantly. "He's a monster."

"Stop saying that!" Violet was clearly getting very angry.

"It's true." Sun Boy told her with a straight face.

"It. Is. Not." She said, her voice strained. "Where's your evidence, besides some very biased situations where there were clearly external forces at work?"

"That's the only foundation you have for your argument, either."

"No, it's not! Is there any time you can think of besides that where you could possible accuse Brainy of trying to kill someone else?"

Sun Boy thought for a moment. "He was pretty willing to risk casualties to destroy those extra-dimensional thingies that Starfinger was making."

"Accepting casualties is part of any battle." Ultra Boy told him. "Basic law of combat."

"Whereas," Violet said smugly. "I have an entire four year's worth of evidence that he is a basically good person to use against your argument."

Matter-Eater Lad looked as if he were amused by the debate. "If we were in court, Violet would be winning right now."

"Ah-ha!" It was rare for Garth to have such a moment of enlightenment. "Shouldn't we let the courts decide this? That's what they're there for."

"We make our _own_ decisions here. We are a government-independent organization." Cos declared.

"But it's still the law. We should wait and see." Colossal Boy said firmly.

_Beep-Beep. Beep-Beep._

"Ask and ye shall receive." Tinya looked at her handheld computer. "Press update! The Daily Galaxy says-"

"My Lord Valor; Colu stood up for Brainy!" Duo Damsel exclaimed.

"What?" went most of the room.

"…Sorta," she amended. "Mostly they just confirmed that Brainiac 1 did indeed take over his mainframe."

Violet bestowed a superior glare on Sun Boy. He made a derogatory noise in the back of his throat.

"That still doesn't mean he's innocent."

"Hey Cos," Dream Girl said. "Go answer the commline."

It buzzed. "The President wants to talk to you."

He got up and walked out. There was an immediate quiet, heated argument. Cos came back in time to see Timber Wolf and Element Lad keeping Violet from tackling Sun Boy from across the table. Colossal Boy was trying to keep Dirk seated, with more success.

"Ahem."

Most of the heads in the room turned towards him and everyone more or less straightened themselves out, though Rokk had resigned himself to the fact that Shrinking Violet and Sun Boy were probably never going to stop fighting with each other; no matter what he said.

"The President says that the United Planets Senatorial Court has ruled that Brainiac 5 is innocent, based on statements from Colu, and- I still can't believe this-" he looked at Superman apprehensively, "_that planet_."

"_That planet_?" Superman asked. "Am I missing something?"

Everyone pretended they hadn't heard him.

"_But_-" Cos continued. "The Legion has a… _provision_, mandated by the courts to appease most of the galaxy…"

"I don't like the ellipses at the end of your thought." Chemical King said. "Unfinished thoughts always mean bad news."

"I hear you, Condo." Wildfire agreed. "Spit it out, Cos."

"…We have to accept a Liaison Science Police Officer, to be appointed by the Head of Earth's Science Police, for a time period to be determined by the UP Senatorial Court."

"WHAT?" roared Tyroc. "This is unacceptable!"

Bouncing Boy watched nervously as the walls shook a little. "Please be careful with your frequencies, Troy. I'm pretty sure wants the building collapsing on them."

"Mom can't do that!" Phantom Girl protested.

"Yes, she can." Matter-Eater Lad said. "It's perfectly legal."

"What was that about the Legion being a government-independent organization again, Rokk?" Garth asked tersely.

"I bet that 'time period to be determined' is determined politically." Jo said pessimistically. "Who wants to take bets on how long it'll be before the guy tries to arrest me?"

"We really have to take whoever Lyle's dad decides on for us?" Luornu wailed. "That'll be a disaster. The guy hates us!"

"We've already got SciPols in the Legion." Hart muttered to himself. "Don't they trust our judgment?"

"If it gets too bad I can always kick-box the officer into submission." M-E Lad told everyone helpfully.

"You can kick-box?" Garth asked doubtfully.

"It's a prerequisite for all Bismollian Law Schools." He told him loftily. "I'm actually very good at it."

Princess Projectora rolled her eyes. "Val still beats you."

"I never said I was the _best_. Not at that, anyway."

Sun Boy's voice rose over the general din. "So the courts say he's innocent! That doesn't mean we should keep him."

"But he _has_ to stay!" Cham said firmly. "He needs help!"

Jan stopped in his conversation with Blok and sighed. It was such an unexpected sound that most of the noise died down so everyone could listen.

"Shouldn't we be asking him if he wants to stay?"

"He's got a point." Timber Wolf said reluctantly. "I've only seen him once since we got back, and he always looks terrified to be out of his rooms."

"Of course he's going to stay!" Bouncy said.

"He's gone through a lot in these past few days." Jan reminded him. "Change is not something that should be taken lightly, especially not change on the scale he has undergone."

"Its change he wanted." Hart retorted. "Change he accepted of his own free will. He chose to let Brainiac into his mainframe."

"To save- _that planet_." Cham reminded him.

"I don't remember that." Superman said, even more confused now. "When was that?"

"That point has already been settled!" Saturn Girl said. "I say we go with what Jan says and let Brainy decide whether he wants to stay or not."

"Sounds fair." Condo agreed.

"As long as we don't make him leave." Violet conceded.

"_FINE_." Sun Boy said.

"All in favor?" Imra asked. Hands went up all around the table. Some careful consideration and a few sharp proddings under the table made the indecisive raise theirs as well.

"Good. Decision reached." Cosmic Boy announced. "We shall neither force Brainiac 5 out nor make him stay. He comes and goes of his own free will. Meeting adjourned."

"…Is anyone going to answer my question?" Clark asked again; with everyone on the way out. He was left alone in the room and concluded that no one was. "You're all very unhelpful, you know," he called after them.


End file.
